Last week, Kelly Pichardo, 32, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to four months in prison after she pled guilty to guilty to Interference with Flight Crew Members.
Pichardo was also ordered to pay restitution to American Airlines in the amount of $9,123.00.
In 2021, Pichardo and her co-defendant, Leeza S. Rodriguez, engaged in unruly and intimidating behavior including spewing racial slurs while traveling first class on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Los Angeles. Pichardo also allegedly spit a man who began recording her and her girlfriend, Rodriguez.
Rodriguez reportedly then hit the man’s hand to stop him from recording.
Their actions caused such a disturbance that the pilot had to divert the flight to Phoenix, Arizona, so Pichardo and Rodriguez could be removed from the plane. Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced pursuant to her guilty plea in this case on November 7, 2022.